A Purple Heart recipient and U.S. Marine Corps veteran was gifted a payment-free car during a ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 8, in Michigan’s Thumb region.
The Military Warriors Support Foundation and corporate sponsors honored retired U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Curtis Terry of Fostoria, Michigan, presenting him with the key to a silver Hyundai Thursday afternoon at Walmart Supercenter, located at 1121 E. Caro St. Walmart and Keurig Dr Pepper sponsored the vehicle through the Military Warriors Support Foundation’s Transporation4Heroes program.
Other veterans chat before Purple Heart recipient and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Curtis Terry receives a payment-free car on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. Walmart and Keurig Dr Pepper sponsored the vehicle through the Military Warriors Support Foundationu00d5s Transporation4Heroes program.
(Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com/TNS)
“I really don’t think I did a lot. I mean, I did my job, I went over, did what I was supposed to do, and I signed up for it,” Terry told reporters at the event. “But getting something like this, it means a lot. It means people do care.”
Terry, a Tulsa, Oklahoma native, served in the Marine Corps from November 2002 to July 2013. He was wounded in January 2006 by an IED during combat operations in Iraq, according to a news release. He received a Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and other awards.
Purple Heart recipient and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Curtis Terry and his wife Ashley pose for a photograph in front of their a payment-free car given to them on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. Walmart and Keurig Dr Pepper sponsored the vehicle through the Military Warriors Support Foundationu00d5s Transporation4Heroes program.
(Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com/TNS)
“I was hit with a triple-stacked IED. We were right outside Fallujah, Iraq,” Terry said. “We had five days left before we were coming back home and next thing you know, we ran over the pressure plate that initially set everything off, so I spent 18 months in the hospital…relearned how to walk, talk and do everything all over again.”
Fourteen years later, Terry said he still has “hurdles” he tries to get over every day. His message to other veterans is this: “If you need help, get the help, get the treatment.”
Purple Heart recipient and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Curtis Terry sits in his payment-free car given to them with his son Tucker in Caro on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. Walmart and Keurig Dr Pepper sponsored the vehicle through the Military Warriors Support Foundationu00d5s Transporation4Heroes program.
(Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com/TNS)
In addition to the vehicle, Military Warriors Support Foundation will provide Terry’s family with one year of family and financial mentorship sponsored by Keurig Dr Pepper and Walmart, the release states.
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